KickStarter Underworld Ascendant Pre-Prototype Thread

[Doctor Sbaitso]

~$76 average pledge through $73,000 in under 3 hours. Good early momentum.

 

[Anthedon]

Brian Fargo ‏@BrianFargo 7m7 minutes ago
We have become a major backer for Underworld Ascendant thanks to the http://kickingitforward.org/ initiative. @Kickstarter http://kck.st/1yH1wpv

 

[LESS T_T]

Reddit AMA is live: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2urqvv/hi_paul_neurath_and_otherside_team_doing_an_ask/

 

[Jaesun]

Backed!

I would pay to block co-op. Such a distraction for something that is not important for this franchise.

This please.

 

[Nyast]

Backed by $50. Although the actual in-game footage doesn't look too hot at the moment. But if it can get at least a bit of old-school gameplay right, I'll be happy.

 

[Durante]

I would pay to block co-op. Such a distraction for something that is not important for this franchise.

This please.

After crowning a co-op game RPG of the Year 2014 (twice) you'd think people would lose their fear of it.

 

[CyberP]

I would pay to block co-op. Such a distraction for something that is not important for this franchise.

This please.

After crowning a co-op game RPG of the Year 2014 (twice) you'd think people would lose their fear of it.

D:OS is a different style of game. I enjoy co-op games, but it has no place in my Immersive Sim.

 

[Jaesun]

I would pay to block co-op. Such a distraction for something that is not important for this franchise.

This please.

After crowning a co-op game RPG of the Year 2014 (twice) you'd think people would lose their fear of it.

D:OS was designed completely AROUND the co-op feature.

This project is just adding it. And it's a huge waste of time and money.

 

[LESS T_T]

They're going to wrapping up AMA in 10 minutes: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2urqvv/hi_paul_neurath_and_otherside_team_doing_an_ask/

 

[Infinitron]

Just one question. Saying that (heaven forbid) your Kickstarter doesn't meet it's goal, do you guys have a plan B or?

Yes, Plan B from Outer Space.

We hope we won't need Plan B, but we do have something in mind. Rather not spend time thinking about that now.

Do the source codes to UW and UW2 still exist? Is there any chance of those ever being released so that people can make modern source ports?

We do in fact have the source code. We're actually offering digital PC copies of the original Underworld 1 and 2 also, on pledge tiers $75+

To be honest, I never played original Ultima Underworld but I know it influenced games I like: Thief, Deus Ex, Arx Fatalis, Dishonoured... (Ralph Colantonio always goes on and on about how great Underworld is and how it inspired him to work on games). I wanted to ask, how hard it will be to players like me to get into Underworld Ascendant? Will be it oldschool (which means fun, but sometimes quite difficult) or more modern, with lots of convenient features like mini-map etc?

We do want make it easy for our new fans to get up to speed. At the same time, the game will have less hand-holding than many modern games, and the challenges will ramp up.

 

[Jaesun]

For one, we think we can get a lot more out of sandbox play than what other RPGs are doing these days. We're building tech we're calling the Improvisation Engine that should really open up players' ability to get super-creative with solving challenges, and finding their own approaches.​

Yes please!

 

[tuluse]

Whoa they have the source code?

 

[The Great Deceiver]

From the AMA:

On rat diplomacy:

We're not sure about winning the game entirely without fighting, but certainly players can rely on stealth in many if not most encounters.

On getting back to other titles they've made (get ready for System Shock 3; I wish):

All our focus is on Underworld Ascendant for now. If we hit our expectations on that, we'll explore other games.

On railroading and quest compass (in a manner of speaking):

Heavens, no. We think it's fun to get lost. We do it all the time. We don't like rails. Not a fan.

We do want make it easy for our new fans to get up to speed. At the same time, the game will have less hand-holding than many modern games, and the challenges will ramp up.

On innovation:

Looking back the two decades since we did the Underworlds, there's actually less innovation in gameplay than we would have thought. Videogames are still a new medium, with lots of room to innovate still. It's what we love to do!

On planned changes:

We'd like to get away from the D&D-style stats, old-school character classes, the original user interface (though great for its time), saving the princess...

 

[Durante]

D:OS was designed completely AROUND the co-op feature.

This project is just adding it. And it's a huge waste of time and money.

I don't think you need to design your entire game around coop to make it i) not a huge timesink in development, ii) have it not negatively impact the single player gameplay, and iii) make it worthwhile.

Especially if you are creating a realtime game.

I mean, neither the IE games nor the Souls series were designed completely around coop, and yet I would argue that for both it was a great addition while not impacting the quality of the single player gameplay.

 

[CyberP]

We do want make it easy for our new fans to get up to speed. At the same time, the game will have less hand-holding than many modern games, and the challenges will ramp up.

This is BULLSHIT.

My response: "This is...not good. Make the game as if this was still the 90's, then throw in every hand holder imaginable as a toggle-able option in the menus. Any other way and you are prioritizing your new fans over the loyal old."

There are no excuses. Difficulty IS Underworld and the Immersive Sim.

 

[Infinitron]

Oh boy, will CyberP become to this game what hiver became to Wasteland 2? Only time will tell.

 

[LESS T_T]

On graphics and engine:

I have a question regarding the visual fidelity of the current ingame footage. How close to the final product you're aiming for would you say it is, say on a scale from 1 to 10? Also I see you're using the Unity engine for the prototype. Is Unity 5 the target engine for the final product, or are you considering other engine options as well (UE4, CE3 etc.)?

Don't know about 1 to 10, but it's an early prototype, with a lot of focus on proving gameplay concepts. We don't spend time doing fancy graphics until we get gameplay rock-solid.

In my experience, many Unity-powered PC games, especially those with a big world to explore, have suffered from poor optimization and performance issues. I can't imagine someone realize a dynamic and huge underworld with first-person view in Unity without those issues.

Is Unity the engine for the final game, or only for the prototype purpose?

We've got some tricks up our sleeves. We understand the importance of achieving good performance.

 

[CyberP]

Oh boy, will CyberP become to this game what hiver became to Wasteland 2? Only time will tell.

I'm not sure what events you are talking about, but I'm in for the long haul. Worst comes to worst the game should easily be "fixable" with the modding tools, if that stretch goal is achieved.
I am willing to accept some compromises, but only because this is Looking Glass reincarnated. If it were anyone else I'd pack my bags right now.

 

[Infinitron]

100k reached in 4.5 hours.

 

[The Great Deceiver]

100k reached in 4.5 hours.

And it should pick up speed since it's still an early hour.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Unity... why does it always have to be unity...

 

[The Great Deceiver]

Unity... why does it always have to be unity...

I doubt we'd see as many Kickstarted games if it weren't for Unity - it might be flawed, but it was crucial in the process of allowing crowdfunding to become a viable business model.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Unity... why does it always have to be unity...

I doubt we'd see as many Kickstarted games if it weren't for Unity - it might be flawed, but it was crucial in the process of allowing crowdfunding to become a viable business model.

It's a crutch, All the unity games i have played have had performance problems, and in a, i suspect, seamless first person rpg of the scope of underworld, it might prove problematic.

 

[The Great Deceiver]

Unity... why does it always have to be unity...

I doubt we'd see as many Kickstarted games if it weren't for Unity - it might be flawed, but it was crucial in the process of allowing crowdfunding to become a viable business model.

It's a crutch, All the unity games i have played have had performance problems, and in a, i suspect, seamless first person rpg of the scope of underworld, it might prove problematic.

Unity seems to be the only affordable solution at the moment - as I've said before, it's not ideal, but if it makes creating games like Torment, Shadowrun, Pillars of Eternity or Underworld (just to name a few) possible I'll take it, warts and all.

 

[Infinitron]

One of the devs is posting here: http://www.quartertothree.com/game-...endant-brought-to-you-by-Zombie-Looking-Glass